Scientology to be tried for fraud

The Church of Scientology is to stand trial for organised fraud and false prescription of drugs.

A ruling against the church in the civil case could lead to its dissolution in France.

The affair dates back to 1998 and a complaint by a woman that a supposed free stress test ended up costing 200,000 francs for books, medicines and an “electrometre” (a device which supposedly measures fluctuations in a person’s mental state).

In the first trial of its kind for the group, judge Jean-Christophe Hullin has ordered two organisations, the l'Association Spirituelle de l'Eglise de Scientologie the main body of the church in France and its library (a separate Sarl) to appear before a tribunal in Paris for “organised fraud”.

Seven scientologists including the director general of the group’s Paris centre are also being charged with further offences including the illegal prescription of drugs after a complaint from the Ordre des Phamaciens.

Speaking on behalf of the plaintiff, solicitor Olivier Morice said the judge’s decision to pursue the case was “a great victory”.

“The judge had the courage to sweep away the complacent attitude of the public prosecutor with respect to Scientology,” he said.

The group claims it is a victim of state ‘harassment’ but said it was confident of the outcome of the trial.

A spokesman for the church accused the French judiciary of leaking details to the press and not respecting freedom of religion in the country.